Key Highlights from the paper "Large Cities are Not Sustainable: and will not help us get to Zero Carbon ASAP" 28 page Presentation (Complete 148 page paper and pdf form of 28 point Powerpoint highlights at www.cpcsi.org--in first "About" section on the homepage)

1. Large Cities are Not Sustainable
This Power Point presentation (28 slides) (converted to pdf file)
provides key highlights from the 140 page paper.
(May, 2022)
By Stefan Pasti, Founder and Resource Coordinator
The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative
www.cpcsi.org
and will not help us to get to Zero Carbon ASAP
5/13/2022 1

2. We have left the 10,000-year climate "safe zone“
that gave rise to human civilization.
[From article “The real budgetary emergency and the myth of
’burnable carbon’" (by David Spratt) (May 22, 2014)
at http://www.climatecodered.org/2014/05/the-real-
budgetary-emergency-burnable.html ]
We are in a Climate Emergency!--Emphasized!!!
We now have less than 10 years--
[due to increasing concerns about negative tipping points--see “Climate tipping
points--too risky to bet against: The growing threat of abrupt and irreversible
climate changes must compel political and economic action on emissions”
(November 27, 2019) (at https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03595-0 ),
and keeping in mind that the graph below was from a December 6, 2018 tweet (by
Robbie Andrews, CICERO) (at
https://twitter.com/robbie_andrew/status/1070565844307075078 )
--and gigatons of emissions have not yet peaked as of early 2022….]
--to get to Zero Carbon.
5/13/2022 2

3. “Unprecedented Challenges Ahead--December, 2021”
By Stefan Pasti, Founder and Resource Coordinator
The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative
(www.cpcsi.org)
[Note: The supporting evidence included below is only a representative fraction of the evidence
accumulated in longer documents compiled by this writer (for two examples of longer documents,
see near the bottom of the webpage “Key Documents (with descriptions)”. Source references for
most quoted passages (below) can be found (see Section 2 p. 9-20, or do phrase search) in the CPCS
Initiative Summary Paper “Recalibrating Our “Moral Compasses”: to resolve unprecedented
challenges, and discover our collective spiritual destiny” (85 pages; June, 2015)(minor revisions,
links updated; June, 2016). Three other key CPCS Initiative risk assessment documents created
since 2016: a) “Harvest Song” 78 pages (3.9 MB); December, 2018] c) “17 Tweet Series as a
Document” (10 pages; June, 2020) c) “Do We Have Moral Compasses We Can Rely On?” (147
pages; April, 2021)]
1. The Climate Emergency and the urgent necessity to achieve Zero Carbon
economies ASAP--the unprecedented cultural transformation needed to limit global
warming to 1.5oC means we have to achieve significant positive tipping points before
negative tipping points in many areas---[climate change disasters; epidemics and
pandemics (Ex: COVID 19); cultures of violence, greed, corruption, and
overindulgence; a disorganized and only marginally effective ASAP transition to Zero
Carbon economies; the ongoing 6th extinction event; global inequities, malnutrition,
and disease; religiously motivated violence; loss of trust in institutions responsible for
guiding public discourse; etc.]---destabilize social cohesion.
2. A marginalization of the treasured wisdom associated with religious,
spiritual, and moral traditions—these “hidden” resources include teachings
which inspire and encourage people to: a) sacrifice personal desires for the
greater good of the whole b) find contentment and quality of life while
consuming less material goods and ecological services c) prefer
peacebuilding which supports and actualizes mutually beneficial
understandings, forgiveness, and reconciliation--and which abstains from
violent conflict resolution--as a way of bringing cycles of violence to an end
d) use resources carefully, so that there is surplus available for emergency
assistance e) support community life and cultural traditions which “… bring
to the fore how many good people there are, how many ways there are to do
good, and how much happiness comes to those who extend help, as well as
to those who receive it”.
6. Current trends indicate that we are creating more and more “urban
agglomerations”--(megacities with a population of more than 1 million
people--which require extremely complex and energy intensive
infrastructures, where it is extremely difficult to trace the consequences of
our individual investments of time, energy, and money--and which are the
least appropriate models when it comes to implementing resolutions to many
of the other challenges in this ten point assessment b) Almost all megacities
(cities with populations over 1 million) are running massive “ecological
deficits” (“resource consumption and waste discharge…in excess of
locally/regionally sustainable natural production and assimilative capacity”)
5/13/2022 3

4. “The automotive industry caused a massive shift in the industrial revolution….”
“The automotive industry caused a massive shift in the industrial revolution because it
accelerated growth by a rate never before seen in the U.S. economy. The combined efforts of
innovation and industrialization allowed the automotive industry to take off during this period
and it proved to be the backbone of United States manufacturing during the 20th century.”
[From the Wikipedia webpage “Automotive industry in the United States” (at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_the_United_States ) (in section
“Development History”, in the subsection “Production”, paragraph 2)]
“… it was the internal combustion engine combined with cheap oil that provided mobility for people and
freight that fueled the phenomenal urban growth of the twentieth century.”
“The evolution of modern cities was tied to advances in transport, initially for ships and trains. But it was
the internal combustion engine combined with cheap oil that provided mobility for people and freight
that fueled the phenomenal urban growth of the twentieth century.”
invitation package
From “Plan B 4.0: Mobilization to Save Civilization” by Lester R. Brown (Earth Policy Institute) (see
Chapter 6 “Designing Cities for People: The Ecology of Cities”—accessible at http://www.earth-
policy.org/books/pb4/PB4ch6_ss2 ) (first paragraph)
Annual Television Set Sales in the USA (1939--1959) (Table)
“Data gathered on the global television market showed that there
were 1.7 billion TV households worldwide in 2019, up from 1.67
billion in the previous year.”
[From the webpage “Number of TV households worldwide from 2010 to 2026
(in billions)” at the Statistica website (at
https://www.statista.com/statistics/268695/number-of-tv-households-
worldwide/#:~:text=Number%20of%20TV%20households%20worldwide%20201
0%2D2026&text=Data%20gathered%20on%20the%20global,the%202020%20to
%202021%20season )
[From the webpage “Television Facts and Statistics - 1939 to 2000” at
the TVHistory.tv website (at http://www.tvhistory.tv/facts-stats.htm )
(see graph #10 on webpage)]
5/13/2022 4

5. Family Life
Percentage of households that possess at least one television: 99
Number of TV sets in the average U.S. household: 2.24
Percentage of U.S. homes with three or more TV sets: 66
Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes
Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
Number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans: 250 billion
Value of that time assuming an average wage of S5/hour: S1.25 trillion
Percentage of Americans who pay for cable TV: 56
Number of videos rented daily in the U.S.: 6 million
Number of public library items checked out daily: 3 million
Percentage of Americans who say they watch too much TV: 49
Children
Approximate number of studies examining TV's effects on children: 4,000
Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful
conversation with their children: 3.5
Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
Percentage of parents who would like to limit their children's TV watching: 73
Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV
and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
Television Statistics Violence
Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school:
8,000
Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000
Percentage of Americans who believe TV violence helps precipitate real life mayhem: 79
Commercialism
Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
Number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million
Percentage of survey participants (1993) who said that TV commercials
aimed at children make them too materialistic: 92
Rank of food products/fast-food restaurants among TV advertisements to kids: 1
Total spending by 100 leading TV advertisers in 1993: $15 billion
General
Percentage of local TV news broadcast time devoted to advertising: 30
Percentage devoted to stories about crime, disaster and war: 53.8
Percentage devoted to public service announcements: 0.7
Percentage of Americans who can name The Three Stooges: 59
Percentage who can name at least three justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: 17
Compiled by TV-Free America (no longer active)
[from “Internet Resources to Accompany the Sourcebook for Teaching Science” (copyright 2007)
(at the webpage “Television Statistics”) (The “Sourcebook” homepage at
http://www.csun.edu/science/index.html is a project of Norman Herr, Ph.D of the California
State University, Northridge)]
5/13/2022 5

6. “On a nightly basis, the publicly-owned airwaves are a toxic
environment awash with depictions of violence and gun violence.”
“The conclusion is clear and unavoidable: On a nightly basis, the
publicly-owned airwaves are a toxic environment awash with
depictions of violence and gun violence. Despite the spate of tragic
events in recent years, violence and gun violence on prime time
broadcast television have actually increased proportionally since the
horrific shootings at Newtown five years ago. And that is not even
taking into account the far greater violence routinely visible on cable,
satellite, and internet streaming offerings, which typically are far more
heavily-laden with violent content. As a result, the problem of
television violence is even greater than this report suggests.”
[From “A Dress Rehearsal for Tragedy: Violence, Gun Violence, and TV
Content Ratings on Prime-Time Broadcast Television” Parents
Television Council Mini-Study (Released March 2018) (at
https://www.parentstv.org/resources/2018GunStudy.pdf ) (p. 11)]
a) “… the family in highly industrialized countries has ‘progressively ceased to function as a unit
of production, and has instead become primarily a unit of consumption’.”
“First, we need to acknowledge that the family in highly industrialized countries has ‘progressively
ceased to function as a unit of production, and has instead become primarily a unit of consumption."
(Berger, 1968) This development has had two related consequences:
i) "The declining importance of home production of most goods and services, far from strengthening the
family, seems to be leading to further reductions in its most intimate and most central functions.
It is not unusual today for men and women to purchase child care services fioin institutions or other
individuals, seek advice about education, health, and careers from professionals, depend on the
workplace for emotional support and assistance with smoking and drinking problems, and delegate care
of dying relatives to hospital and nursing home personnel.” (Fuchs, 1983)
ii) "It is even possible that (because of unforeseen costs associated with our ‘rising standard of living’)
there is today more economic pressure on the family than there was when it was still geared to
production." (Berger, 1968)
[From paper (for “Family Studies” course at University of Maryland, College Park--1994) “Community Visioning
and Sustainability: Policy Recommendations for Families and Communities” (in Part 1 of scanned document, p. 9)
(accessible as #7 at https://www.cpcsi.org/collected-writings-stefan-pasti )]
b) “… anthropologists have often described what happens to a primitive society when its
spiritual values are exposed to the impact of modern civilization. It's people lose the meaning
of their lives, their social organization disintegrates, and they themselves morally decay.“
[From “Man and His Symbols” by Carl Jung (paperback) Doubleday (1964) (find by key word search at google
books https://www.google.com/books/edition/Man_and_His_Symbols/g_10NtfzVe0C?hl=en&gbpv=0 ) (p. 84)]
“The industrial revolution, starting in the nineteenth and going
into the twentieth century, is seen as the force that changed
the economic family and is basically responsible for the
‘modern family’.“
[From the Wikipedia webpage for “Family economy” (at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_economy ) (last sentence, paragraph
5)]
5/13/2022 6

7. Concerns about the Leanings of Human Aspirations
This writer believes that human morality is not a constant--it is not something
which is the same throughout the centuries of human existence; and thus it is
something which can become degraded or raised up, depending on the
leanings of human aspirations.
[Note: the following two pages (7-8) are from Table of Contents for Section B (pages xii-xvii) in
“Do We Have Moral Compasses We Can Rely On?” (147 pages; April, 2021)]
a) “The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists
expected (figure 2, IPCC 2018). It is more severe than anticipated, threatening
natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity (IPCC 2019).”
i) We have left the 10,000-year climate "safe zone" that gave rise to human
civilization
ii) “The report (“IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C”) (2018) finds that
limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require ‘rapid and far-reaching’ transitions in
land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities
iii) Graph illustrating the IPCC recommendation for what is necessary to limit global
warming to 1.5oC
iv) “Especially worrisome are potential irreversible climate tipping points and nature's
reinforcing feedbacks (atmospheric, marine, and terrestrial) that could lead to a
catastrophic ‘hothouse Earth,’ well beyond the control of humans (Steffen et al.
2018).”
v) The Brainstorming Zero Carbon ASAP Project
5/13/2022 7

8. h) Hazardous and Toxic Waste
i) “There are an estimated 35 million tons of hazardous materials
managed annually in the United States.”
ii) “In low-income countries, over 90% of solid waste is mismanaged. This
increases emissions and disaster risk, which affects the poor disproportionally.”
iii) “Floods Are Getting Worse, and 2,500 Chemical Sites Lie in the Water’s Path”
(USA)
iv) “We were able to get all the way down to this one highly toxic chemical--
something that kills large fish quickly and we think is probably found on every
single busy road in the world.”
v) “Some 827,000 people in low- and middle-income countries die as a result of
inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene each year….”
i) “This is not the life of simplicity but the life of multiplicity that the wise
men warn us of. It leads not to unification but to fragmentation. It does
not bring grace; it destroys the soul.”
[from “Gift from the Sea” (1955) by Anne Morrow Lindbergh]
j) “There are over 1 billion firearms in the world today, including 857
million in civilian hands….”
i) “Total global military expenditure rose to $1.9 trillion in 2019….”
ii) “… 393 million of the civilian-held firearms, 46 percent, are in the United
States, which is ‘more than those held by civilians in the other top 25 countries
combined.’"
q) Displacement
i) People Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence as of 31 December 2019
ii) New Displacements by Conflict and Disasters in 2019 [above chart--(iDMC)]
iii) New Displacements in 2019: Breakdown by Conflict and Disaster Type
iv) Forcibly Displaced--“as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights
violations or events seriously disturbing public order”
v) “The interplay between climate, conflict, hunger, poverty and persecution creates
increasingly complex emergencies.”
r) “Some might assume that bond markets are shielded from the effects of climate change,
ecosystem degradation, and water scarcity. With more than $40 trillion of sovereign
debt in global markets at any given time, that is a very high-risk game.”
s) “The effects of climate policies have been too small to offset the impact of key
drivers of emissions such as economic growth and population growth.”
5/13/2022 8

9. PFAs (Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances)
a) “Nearly 60% of children’s textiles labeled ‘waterproof’, ‘stain-resistant’, or ‘environmentally
friendly’ that were tested as part of a new study contained toxic PFAs substances known as
‘forever chemicals’ due to their persistence in the environment.”
[from article “‘Forever chemicals’ found in nearly 60% of children’s ‘waterproof’ or ‘stain-resistant’
textiles” by Tom Perkins (May 7, 2022) at the Guardian website (at
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/07/pfas-forever-chemicals-children-textiles )
(paragraphs 1,2, 4-6)]
b) “Mapping the PFAS contamination crisis: New data show 2,854 sites in 50 states and two
territories”
[From the webpage “PFAS Contamination in the U.S. (October 4, 2021)” at the website of the
Environmental Working Group (at https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/ ) (see
heading)]
Toxic Release Inventory (Environmental Protection Agency--USA)
“ In general, chemicals covered by the Toxic Release Inventory Program (USA) are those that
cause:
Cancer or other chronic human health effects
Significant adverse acute human health effects
Significant adverse environmental effects
“There are currently 770 individually listed chemicals and 33 chemical categories covered by
the TRI Program. Facilities that manufacture, process or otherwise use these chemicals in
amounts above established levels must submit annual reporting forms for each chemical. Note
that the TRI chemical list doesn't include all toxic chemicals used in the U.S.”
[From the webpage “What is the Toxic Release Inventory?” at the Environmental Protection Agency (USA)
(at https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/what-toxics-release-inventory ) (from
Section “What are TRI Toxic Chemicals?”, pragraphs 1 and 2)]
Air Pollution
“The study found that more than 90% of the world’s young people – 1.8 billion
children – are breathing toxic air, storing up a public health time bomb for the next
generation.”
[From the article “90% of world's children are breathing toxic air, WHO study finds” by
Matthew Taylor (October 29, 2018) at the Guardian website (at
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/29/air-pollution-worlds-children-
breathing-toxic-air-who-study-finds ) (paragraph 2)]
Water Scarcity
b) “Today, 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high or
extremely high water vulnerability.” (UNICEF, 2021)
[From the UN Water webpage for “Scarcity” (at https://www.unwater.org/water-
facts/scarcity/ ) (in Section “Facts and Figures”, bullet #5)]
Sanitation
“Some 829 000 people in low- and middle-income countries die as a result of
inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene each year, representing 60% of total
diarrhoeal deaths. Poor sanitation is believed to be the main cause in some 432 000 of
these deaths and is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including
intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. Poor sanitation also contributes to
malnutrition…. Diarrhoea remains a major killer but is largely preventable. Better
water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 297 000 children aged
under 5 years each year.”
From the World Health Organization (WHO) webpage for “Sanitation” (at
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sanitation ) (in Section “Overview”,
paragraph 1 and 3)]
5/13/2022 9

10. “Cities require a concentration of food, water, energy, and materials that
nature cannot provide. Collecting these masses of materials and later
dispersing them in the form of garbage, sewage, and pollutants in air and
water is challenging city managers everywhere.
“Early cities relied on food and water from the surrounding countryside, but today cities often
depend on distant sources for basic amenities. Los Angeles, for example, draws much of its water
from the Colorado River, some 600 miles away. Mexico City’s burgeoning population, living at an
altitude of over 9,000 feet, depends on the costly pumping of water from 100 miles away that
must be lifted over 3,000 feet to augment inadequate water supplies. Beijing is planning to draw
water from the Yangtze River basin some 800 miles away.
“Food comes from even greater distances, as illustrated by Tokyo. While the city still gets its rice
from the highly productive farmers in Japan, with their land carefully protected by government
policy, its wheat comes largely from the Great Plains of North America and from Australia. Its corn
supply comes largely from the U.S. Midwest. Soybeans come from the U.S. Midwest and the
Brazilian cerrado.
“The oil used to move resources into and out of cities often comes from distant oil fields. Rising oil
prices will affect cities, but they will affect even more the suburbs that surround them. The
growing scarcity of water and the high energy cost of transporting it over long distances may begin
to constrain the growth of some cities.”
[From “Plan B 4.0: Mobilization to Save Civilization” by Lester R. Brown (Earth Policy Institute) (see Chapter
6 “Designing Cities for People: The Ecology of Cities”—accessible at http://www.earth-
policy.org/books/pb4/PB4ch6_ss2 ) (paragraphs 2-5)]
Water Footprint--Global Water Usage:
How do Countries Compare?
[From the webpage “Water Footprint Comparisons by Country” at the website
of Water Footprint Calculator (at
https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/water-footprints-by-country/ )]
“Identifying sustainable diets that promote health and minimize environmental
impacts is increasingly important, and in this context, understanding the
impact of food production and population-level dietary patterns on water use
is critical for sustainable water management.”
[From the article “The Water Footprint of Diets: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-
analysis” at the website Oxford Academic (at
https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/11/2/375/5564833 ) (in Section
“Introduction”, paragraph 1)]
5/13/2022 10

11. “China’s Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million into Cities”
[“‘If half of China’s population starts consuming, growth is inevitable,’ said Li Xiangyang, vice director
of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, part of a government research institute. ‘Right now
they are living in rural areas where they do not consume.’”]
[From article “China’s Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million into Cities” by Ian Johnson (June 15, 2013)
at the New York Times website (at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/world/asia/chinas-great-
uprooting-moving-250-million-into-cities.html?hp&_r=3& ) (paragraph 19)]
Commentary
The inevitable shrinking of
the global economy to
eliminate GHG emissions
(=less revenues)--and the
absolute necessity for “on
point” investing to support
and sustain functioning
Zero Carbon cultures--will
very likely create more and
more Funding Gaps for
unsustainable energy
intensive infrastructure.
When will we--collectively-
-see the diminishing
returns of such investment,
and change our focus?
[from the Executive Summary of “2021 Report Card on America’s Infrastructure” (p. 7)
(A Comprehensive Assessment of America’s Infrastructure) by the America Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
(https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2021-IRC-Executive-Summary-1.pdf )]
“Existing policies and market incentives… allow
businesses to run up significant, largely unaccounted
for, and unchecked social and environmental
externalities.”
“Most economic development and growth strategies encouraged
rapid accumulation of physical, financial and human capital, but at
the expense of excessive depletion and degradation of natural
capital, which includes the endowment of natural resources and
ecosystems. By depleting the world’s stock of natural wealth--often
irreversibly--this pattern of development and growth has had
detrimental impacts on the wellbeing of current generations and
presents tremendous risks and challenges for the future. The
recent multiple crises are symptomatic of this pattern. Existing
policies and market incentives have contributed to this problem of
capital misallocation because they allow businesses to run up
significant, largely unaccounted for, and unchecked social and
environmental externalities.”
[From “Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development
and Poverty Eradication” United Nations Environment Programme, 2011;
(in Introduction, see section “An Era of Capital Misallocation”--insufficient
numbering, see the first and second pages of the introduction) (at
https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org
/content/documents/126GER_synthesis_en.pdf&embedded=true )]
5/13/2022 11

12. “The smaller the circumference, the more accurately can we guage the results of our
actions, and (the) more conscientiously shall we be able to fulfill our obligations as
trustees.” (From “Why the Village Movement?” by J.C. Kumarappa)
“… every article in the bazaar has moral and spiritual values attached to it… hence it behooves us to
enquire into the antecedents of every article we buy…. (Yet this) is an arduous task, and it becomes
almost impossible for ordinary persons to undertake it when the article comes from far off
countries. Therefore, it is that we have to restrict our purchase to articles made within our
cognizance. This is the moral basis of Swadeshi.” (p. 53-54)
“If we feel it is beyond us to guarantee the concomitant results of all our transactions, it necessarily
follows that we must limit our transactions to a circle well within our control. This is the bed rock of
swadeshi… The smaller the circumference, the more accurately can we guage the results of our
actions, and (the) more conscientiously shall we be able to fulfill our obligations as trustees.” (p. 60)
[From “Why the Village Movement?” by J.C. Kumarappa The All India Village Industries Wardha, C.P, 1946
(at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.118819 ) (using page numbers in the book)]
“… there are truths which none can be free to ignore, if one is to have that wisdom through which
life can becomes useful. These are the truths concerning the structures of the good life and
concerning the factual conditions by which it may be achieved….”
[From “General Education in a Free Society” (The Harvard Committee, 1945)] (accessible in “American Higher
Education Transformed 1940-2005: Documenting the National Discourse” Ed. Wilson Smith and Thomas
Bender (accessible at google books through key word search, or see p. 20)]
From introduction to course offering “Applied Ecovillage Living”
(Findhorn Foundation)
“The Findhorn Foundation, community, and ecovillage has a long history of facilitating and
teaching sustainability practices. During the programme, participants will engage with these
resources and get to meet and learn from inspiring teachers and facilitators with wide-ranging
experience and expertise. We will also have self-organised time where we explore arising
topics and share perspectives from our different countries and cultures.”
“Together we will learn about:
Social tools for personal and group transformation,
empowerment and community building
Urban and rural solutions for transitioning to a resilient society
Local organic food production and right livelihood
Comprehensive Permaculture design introduction
Renewable energy systems and energy efficiency models
Cooperative social economies and complementary currencies
Holistic decision-making processes, including nature and deep ecology
Earth restoration projects and biological waste water treatments
Ecological building and community design
Cultural and Spiritual diversity practices”
[From the webpage “Applied Ecovillage Living” at the website for Findhorn Foundation (at
https://www.findhorn.org/programmes/applied-ecovillage-living-2019/ ) (paragraphs 3-4)]
5/13/2022 12

13. There is very credible evidence in this “Large Cities are not sustainable, and will not help us
get to Zero Carbon ASAP” document which is pointing towards a need for:
a) a significant increase of people who can find contentment and quality of life while
consuming much less material goods and ecological services (directed specifically to people
who have much more wealth than they need)
b) a significant reversal of the trend toward urbanization, and a transition towards
ecologically sustainable small cities, towns, and villages
c) a significant increase in initiatives working to redesign the human economy so that such
activity supports the sustainability of associated ecosystems, instead of damaging the
sustainability of such ecosystems (as in the “leanings of human aspirations” in Section B)
Such evidence brings forward the questions:
i) If there might be a significant reversal of the urbanization trend, and a significant
transition from megacities to ecologically sustainable cities, towns, and villages, what would
such a transition look like?
ii) How many small cities and towns would have to add 50,000 people (and still remain
on track for Zero Carbon, and Ecological Sustainability), if there was a significant
migration from megacities to small cities and towns?
[Note: There are now 572 cities with over 1 million people [according to the webpage
“World City Populations 2022” (using data from “World Urbanization Prospects”
publications, from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Population Dynamics)]
The following “thought experiment” is one exploration of what such a transition might look
like.
[Note: The calculations here will be a rough estimate, offered more to provide a “visual picture” than
to provide a comprehensive analysis. (Readers may suggest more refined calculations).]
Of the 572 cities in the world with over 1 million inhabitants, there are approximately 32 cities with
over 10 million people, approximately 51 cities with between 5 million and 10 million people, and
approximately 489 cities with between 5 million and 1 million people.
For our calculations, we will supply a rough average for each category:
32 cities with a rough average of 15 million people = 480 million people
51 cities with a rough average of 7.5 million people = 382.5 million people
489 cities with a rough average of 2.5 million people = 1,222.5 million people
Total = 2,085 million people
2,085 million divided by 50,000 = 41,700 = how many small cities and towns would have
to add 50,000 people (and still remain on track for Zero Carbon, and Ecological
Sustainability), if there was a significant migration from megacities to small cities and
towns.
[Population figures From the webpage “World City Populations 2022” at the World Population Review
website (at https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities )]
5/13/2022 13

14. “Migration to towns and cities is very recent
– mostly limited to the past 200 years.”
[Both charts below from the webpage “Urbanization” at the Our World in Data website (at
https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization ) [ a) first chart in the section “Long-run History of Urbanization”,
and b) first chart on webpage)]
5/13/2022 14

15. “Twentieth century cities and industrial regions are dependent for survival and growth on a
vast and increasingly global hinterland of ecologically productive landscapes.”
“… as a result of high population densities, the enormous increase in per capita energy and
material consumption made possible by (and required by) technology, and universally increasing
dependencies on trade, the ecological locations of human settlements no longer coincide with
their geographic locations. Twentieth century cities and industrial regions are dependent for
survival and growth on a vast and increasingly global hinterland of ecologically productive
landscapes.”
[from section “Appropriating Carrying Capacity and Ecological Footprints” (p. 204, paragraph 4)]
[From article “Revisiting Carrying Capacity: Area-Based Indicators of Sustainability” by William E. Rees--
which was published in the January 1996 issue of “Population and Environment” [17(3):195-215)] [from
downloaded file via ResearchGate website (at
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226184045_Revisiting_Carrying_Capacity_Area-
Based_Indicators_of_Sustainability )]
“…nature is unravelling and that our planet is flashing red warning signs of systems failure.”
“’The Living Planet Report 2020 underlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is
having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all
aspects of our lives,’ said Marco Lambertini, Director General, WWF International.”
“’We can’t ignore the evidence--these serious declines in wildlife species populations are an
indicator that nature is unravelling and that our planet is flashing red warning signs of systems
failure. From the fish in our oceans and rivers to bees which play a crucial role in our agricultural
production, the decline of wildlife affects directly nutrition, food security and the livelihoods of
billions of people.’”
[From article “WWF’s Living Planet Report reveals two-thirds decline in wildlife populations on average since
1970” (World Wildlife Federation) (September 9, 2020) at the World Wildlife Federation website (at
https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?793831/WWF-LPR--reveals-two-thirds-decline-in-
wildlife-populations-on-average-since-1970 ) (paragraphs 3 and 4)]
“The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating
more rapidly than ever.”
“’The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different
fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,’ said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. ‘The
health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly
than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security,
health and quality of life worldwide.’”
[From the webpage “Media Release: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction
Rates ‘Accelerating’” (May, 2019)
at the website for IPBES (at https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment ) (paragraph 2)]
The CPCS Initiative believes that priority actions—for urgently and drastically cutting Global
Greenhouse Gas Emissions—would be more constructive if they were focused on small cities,
towns, and villages, which—
a) are more sustainable-friendly in the long run
b) have less complex vulnerabilities
c) create more emphasis on downsizing and focusing on what basic necessities are most
needed
and
d) where it is easier to see the results of our actions
e) where a truly natural circular economy (sewage treatment; food miles; less packaging; zero
waste; etc.) is much easier to implement, and more likely to actually happen.
5/13/2022 15

16. The CPCS Initiative also believes that it is possible for local communities and regions to include the
recommendations of the CPCS Initiative into their local specific “constellation of initiatives”, and
for all continents, countries, regions, and local communities to achieve Zero Carbon in ten years.
One of the keys to achieving this kind of cultural transformation is for a significant majority of the
people who have “way too much” to understand that they can get by “with much less”, and still
have high quality of life.
For example, how many of us--and especially those of us who are aware of
how urgently we need to achieve Zero Carbon--would be really most
appreciative to arrive in the year 2050, and find out we are living in places
which have--
--A clean and beautiful environment
--Adequate provision of clean drinking water
--Adequate provision for safe sanitation
--Minimal supplies of clothing
--Adequate and balanced nutrition
--Simple housing
--Basic health care
--Basic communication facilities
--A minimal supply of energy
--Holistic education
--Satisfaction of intellectual and cultural needs
[Above list of 11 items is from an overview of the development model of the Sarvodaya Shramadana
Movement (at https://www.sarvodaya.org/2004/12/27/the-development-model )]
A Table with “Currently” and “in your Zero Carbon
town” (key appropriate technology and culture change
highlighted in the latter)--to help people visualize that
the territory we are now setting out to explore has many
positive features to recommend it.
(Crowdsourcing to make this Table into a Visual Aid for
presentions--not yet underway;
hopefully forthcoming)
(contributions are welcome)
5/13/2022 16

17. “The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) believes the most promising and effective way to
deal with all these issues is through education; not a typical education, but a new kind of
global education, specifically designed to meet the challenges and opportunities of the
21st century:
“This is an education where a thorough and objective assessment of the state of the planet
is followed by regional, community, and place-based solutions;
an education that empowers individuals and communities with the knowledge for shaping their worlds and
becoming more self-reliant;
an education that is universal in scope but local in application, directed toward preserving precious cultural
diversity;
an education where investigating theory is followed by practical application;
an education that imparts useful and instrumental life-skills as part of the curriculum;
an education relevant to peoples of both developed and developing countries, rural and urban regions; an
education focused on the complexly interwoven, transdisciplinary issues pertaining to the transition to
sustainable culture;
an education promoting and facilitating healthful planetary evolution;
an education exploring and expanding the perceived limits of human potential;
an education identifying and reconnecting all these essential considerations to a meaningful, dignified,
high-quality life for all the world’s people.
[From the preamble to a 116 page “Ecovillage Design Curriculum” Gaia Education website) [Note: This
preamble is from a previous version of the “Ecovillage Design Curriculum” (Version 4.0 March 31, 2006),
which is accessible at http://www.rivendellvillage.org/Ecovillage_Design_Education.pdf (p. 2-3). In the
latest version (Version 5, 2012) of “Ecovillage Design Curriculum” at http://www.gaiaeducation.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/02/EDE-Curriculum-English.pdf , the “Foreword” (there is no preamble) describes
some of the history of Gaia Education, and is included below) ]
Permaculture
“It should be possible to design land use systems which approach the solar energy
harvesting capacities of natural systems while providing humanity with its needs.
This was the original premise of the permaculture concept.”
To Summarize…
* Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (in that order).
* Grow a garden and eat what it produces.
* Avoid imported resources where possible.
* Use labor and skill in preference to materials and technology.
* Design, build, and purchase for durability and repairability.
* Use resources for their greatest potential use (e.g. electricity for tools and
lighting, food scraps for animal feed).
* Use renewable resources wherever possible even if local environmental costs
appear higher (e.g. wood rather than electricity for fuel and timber rather than
steel for construction).
* Use non-renewable and embodied energies primarily to establish sustainable
systems (e.g. passive solar housing, food gardens, water storage, forests).
* When using high technology (e.g. computers) avoid using state of the art
equipment.
* Avoid debt and long-distance commuting.
* Reduce taxation by earning less.
* Develop a home-based lifestyle, be domestically responsible.
[From the article “Energy and Permaculture” by David Holmgren (originally published by
The Permaculture Activist April 29, 1994) at the website of Resilience (at
https://www.resilience.org/stories/1994-04-29/energy-and-
permaculture/#:~:text=The%20permaculture%20strategy%20of%20using,solar%20energy
%20is%20precisely%20adaptive.&text=The%20critical%20issue%20of%20the,net%20ener
gy%20availability%20to%20humanity ) (from the last section)]
5/13/2022 17

18. “The transition from an unsustainable fossil fuel-based economy
back to a solar-based (agriculture and forestry) economy
will involve the application of the embodied energy that we inherit from industrial
culture: This embodied energy is contained within a vast array of things,
infrastructure, cultural processes and ideas, mostly inappropriately configured for
the ‘solar’ economy. It is the task of our age to take this great wealth, reconfigure
and apply it to the development of sustainable systems.”
“Mollison almost in passing points to three guidelines we should observe in this
task.
* The systems we construct should last as long as possible and take least
maintenance.
* These systems, fueled by the sun should produce not only for their own needs,
but the needs of the people creating and controlling them. Thus they are
sustainable as they sustain both themselves and those who construct them.
* We can use non-renewable energy to construct these systems providing that in
their lifetime, they store or conserve more energy than we use to construct or
maintain them.”
[From the article “Energy and Permaculture” by David Holmgren (originally published by
The Permaculture Activist April 29, 1994) at the website of Resilience (at
https://www.resilience.org/stories/1994-04-29/energy-and-
permaculture/#:~:text=The%20permaculture%20strategy%20of%20using,solar%20energy
%20is%20precisely%20adaptive.&text=The%20critical%20issue%20of%20the,net%20energ
y%20availability%20to%20humanity ) (in section “Mollison”, paragraphs 4 and 5)]
“The Findhorn Ecovillage is a tangible demonstration of the links between the spiritual, social,
ecological and economic aspects of life and is a synthesis of the very best of current thinking on
human habitats. It is a constantly evolving model used as a teaching resource by a number of
university and school groups as well as by professional organisations and municipalities
worldwide.”
b) “The Findhorn Ecovillage--
is at the heart of the largest single intentional community in the UK
is a pioneering ecovillage that evolved at The Park from 1985
is a major centre for holistic learning serving thousands of visitors each year from around the
world
has an ecological footprint that is around half the national (UK) average
features more than 100 ecologically-benign buildings
supplies energy from four wind turbines
boasts a biological Living Machine waste water treatment system
installed a 250kW biomass boiler in 2010 to serve the central Park area, reducing carbon
emissions by around 80 tons a year
includes numerous solar water heating systems
is part of a comprehensive recycling system
is the publisher of the UK’s first technical guide to ecological housing
has a share-issuing community co-operative and a local currency
is served by a car-sharing club that includes zero-emissions electric vehicles”
[From the webpage “Ecovillage Findhorn: New Frontiers for Sustainability” at the website for Findhorn
Ecovillage (at https://www.ecovillagefindhorn.com/index.php/ecovillage-findhorn ) (paragraphs 1 and 4)]
5/13/2022 18

19. “From the very beginning, at Tuskegee, I was determined to have the students do not
only the agricultural and domestic work, but to have them erect their own buildings.”
(Booker T. Washington)
[Here are some of excerpts from Booker T. Washington’s autobiography “Up From Slavery” (first
published in 1901). (online Table of Contents at
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/WASHINGTON/toc.html )]
[Note: For those readers who do not know of Booker T. Washington, he was born into slavery. By a
remarkable struggle in his early life, he gained the benefits of an education at the Hampton Normal
and Agricultural Institute (Hampton, Virginia). During his post graduate work there, he was
recommended by its founder and president (former Union General Samuel C. Armstrong) to be the
founder of an educational institution in Tuskegee, Alabama (in 1881).]
(From paragraphs 1-3 in the Chapter 10 “A Harder Task Than Making Bricks Without Straw”)
“From the very beginning, at Tuskegee, I was determined to have the students do not only
the agricultural and domestic work, but to have them erect their own buildings. My plan was
to have them, while performing this service, taught the latest and best methods of labour, so
that the school would not only get the benefit of their efforts, but the students themselves
would be taught to see not only utility in labour, but beauty and dignity; would be taught, in
fact, how to lift labour up from mere drudgery and toil, and would learn to love work for its
own sake. My plan was not to teach them to work in the old way, but to show them how to
make the forces of nature-air, water, steam, electric, horsepower—assist them in their
labor.”
“At first many advised against the experiment of having the buildings erected by the
labour of the students, but I was determined to stick to it. I told those who doubted the
wisdom of the plan that I knew that our first buildings would not be so comfortable or so
complete in their finish as buildings erected by the experienced hands of outside
workmen, but that in the teaching of civilization, self-help, and self-reliance, the erection
of buildings by the students themselves would more than compensate for any lack of
comfort or fine finish.”
“I further told those who doubted the wisdom of this plan, that the majority of our
students came to us in poverty, from the cabins of the cotton, sugar, and rice plantations
of the South, and that while I knew it would please the students very much to place them
at once in finely constructed buildings, I felt that it would be following out a more natural
process of development to teach them how to construct their own buildings. Mistakes I
knew would be made, but these mistakes would teach us valuable lessons forthe future.”
(From paragraph 15 in Chapter X “A Harder Task Than Making Bricks Without Straw”)
“The same principle of industrial education has been carried out in the building of our
own wagons, carts, and buggies, from the first. We now own and use on our farm and
about the school dozens of these vehicles, and every one of them has been built by the
hands of the students. Aside from this, we help supply the local market with these
vehicles. The supplying of them to the people in the community has had the same effect
as the supplying of bricks, and the man who learns at Tuskegee to build and repair
wagons and carts is regarded as a benefactor by both races in the community where he
goes. The people with whom he lives and works are going to think twice before they part
with such a man.”
5/13/2022 19

20. “The Appropriate Technology Library (Village Earth)
“The AT Library gives you the knowledge to solve real-world problems such as:
harvesting clean drinking water, making tools, growing your own crops, building and
maintaining an irrigation system, preserving crops, reforesting a denuded watershed,
starting a small fish hatchery, building a small-scale hydropower scheme, building and
maintaining pumps, treating human and animal waste, utilizing solar energy, improving
rural cookstove efficiency, constructing energy efficient structures, caring for the sick,
non-formal education, preparing for a natural disaster, etc.”
“The AT Library is the complete text and graphics of each book, digitally scanned into
Adobe PDF format…. Each book is summarized and indexed in the Appropriate
Technology Sourcebook, included with each library. This format is easy to use and
navigate and can be read on virtually any computer operating system. It can also be
used with the most basic hardware including low MHZ laptops, tablets or
smartphones.”
For a complete list of the 1050 books included--at the bottom of the Appropriate
Technology Library webpage (at https://villageearth.org/home-
2/resources/appropriate-technology-library/ ), click on the “Books in the AT Library”
tab. Here is a sampling of the titles included in the AT Library: Technologies for Basic
Needs, How to Make Twelve Woodworking Tools, Permaculture II, Animal Power in
Farming Systems, Small Scale Solar Powered Irrigation Pumping Systems, Water-
Pumping Devices, Compost Toilets, Hot Water, The Wind Power Book, Small Scale
Hydropower Technologies, Low Cost Passive Solar Greenhouses, Low Cost Country
Home Building, Small Scale Papermaking, etc.]
“The energy invested in a particular thing, during its life from cradle to grave, is called
the ‘embodied energy’ of that object.
The amount of embodied energy that an item contains depends on the technology used to
create it (the origin of materials inputs, how they were created and transported, etc.), the
nature of the production system, and the distance the item travels from inception to
purchase.” “By supporting items and processes that have lower embodied energy, as well as
the companies that produce them, consumers can significantly reduce society’s energy use.”
[From report “State of the World 2004--Special Focus: The Consumer Society” (Worldwatch Institute)
(2004) at the website of Green Economics (at http://www.greeneconomics.net/StateOfWorld-
2004.pdf ) (in Chapter 2 “Making Better Energy Choices” by Janet L. Sawin; p. 36-37)]
Local Currency--“Federal currency is exchanged for BerkShares at nine
branch offices of three local banks and spent at 400 locally owned
participating businesses.”
“The people who choose to use the (local) currency make a conscious commitment to buy
local, and in doing so take a personal interest in the health and well-being of their community
by laying the foundation for a truly vibrant, thriving economy.”
“… local currencies are once again being recognized as a tool for sustainable economic
development. The currency distinguishes the local businesses that accept the currency from
those that do not, fostering stronger relationships between the responsible business
community and the citizens of the region. The people who choose to use the currency make
a conscious commitment to buy local, and in doing so take a personal interest in the health
and well-being of their community by laying the foundation for a truly vibrant, thriving
economy.”
[From the “Local Currency” webpage at the website for the Schumacher Center for a New Economics
(at http://www.centerforneweconomics.org/content/local-currencies ) (paragraph 2)]
5/13/2022 20

21. “Growing Wisdom and Compassion in Small Communities
(13 Steps)” (78 pages; May 2017) by Stefan Pasti
[Overviews of original seven steps originally published in the “IPCR Journal/Newsletter Spring
2005 (p. 3-6) (also at https://www.cpcsi.org/about-the-ipcr-initiative.html --see #2)]
Growing Wisdom and Compassion in Small Communities (13 Steps)
1) Community Good News Networks
2) Community Faith Mentoring Networks
3) Spiritual Friendships
4) Interfaith Peace Vigils
5) Recalibrating Our Moral Compasses (ROMC) Surveys
6) Community Visioning Initiatives (CVIs)
7) Neighborhood Learning Centers (NLCs)
8) Spiritually Responsible Investing
9) Ecological Sustainability/Permaculture/Ecovillages
10) Appropriate Technology
11) Food Sovereignty/Food Waste/Local Food Councils/Community Supported
Agriculture
12) Local Currency
13) Neighbor to Neighbor Community Education (NTNCE) Projects in Local Newspapers
“Were I to have the least bit of knowledge, in walking on a Great Road,
it’s only going astray that I would fear.
The Great Way is very level,
but people greatly delight in tortuous paths.”
[From Chapter 53 of “Te-Tao Ching” (by Lao Tzu) (possibly 6th Century BCE) translation by Robert G.
Hendricks Ballantine Books 1992 --accessible through a key word search (if you are signed in) at
https://www.amazon.com/Lao-Tzu-Translation-Discovered-Ma-wang-
tui/dp/0345370996?ref_=nav_signin&https://www.amazon.com/Lao-Tzu-Translation-Discovered-
Ma-wang-tui/dp/0345370996?ref_=nav_signin& ]
5/13/2022 21

22. Thousands of local Community Visioning Initiatives, in communities
around the world, can activate the most possible human participation (by way of 6-
12 months of workshops, meetings, brainstorming, and prioritizing challenges and
solutions) (with the process repeated periodically in the future), and help build a high
level of consensus for specific action plans in the shortest amount of time, with support
from--
a) Universities, colleges, and thousands of positive tipping point related organizations and
institutions creating related curriculum--and offering resources, classes, workshops, and
teacher training to maximize the identification of challenges and solutions during the
Community Visioning process
b) Neighborhood Learning Centers helping to create the necessary knowledge base and
skill sets by providing accessible space for workshops, discussion, information sharing,
mutual support, encouragement, fellowship, and friendship
c) Local newspapers supporting this multi-faceted solution-oriented path with ongoing
coverage--and a new section for reader contributions which identify helpful people and
valuable resources, and reinforce important community goals
d) Residents (especially those who are unemployed) volunteering time and energy to
assist with Community Visioning and Neighborhood Learning Centers, and to advance
resulting action plans--who then could receive, as compensation, local currency (which,
because it can only be spent in local community businesses, helps support the local
economy)
e) Job fairs at the end of the Community Visioning Initiative process, which provide
opportunities for all key stakeholders in the community (businesses, organizations,
institutions, government, etc.) to demonstrate their upgraded awareness--and their
interest in the welfare of the community--by offering and facilitating new employment
opportunities. (continued opposite)
Community Visioning Initiatives
f) Local leaders of religious/spiritual traditions stepping up on every frontline possible to
help people understand the urgent need to
i) sacrifice personal desires for the greater good
ii) choose forgiveness, reconciliation--and abstaining from violent conflict resolution--as
a way of bringing cycles of violence to an end
iii) create community life and cultural traditions which “… bring to the fore how many
good people there are, how many ways there are to do good, and how much happiness
comes to those who extend help, as well as to those who receive it”
This writer’s interest in Community Visioning Initiatives was inspired instantly when, in
1994, he watched a video documentary titled “Chattanooga: A Community With A
Vision” (13 minutes)(highly recommended). The video includes many interviews and
how-to details, and documents two very successful Community Visioning Initiatives
organized by the non-profit organization Chattanooga Venture (Chattanooga, Tennessee
USA)—one in 1984, and a follow-up in 1993. The 1984 Chattanooga Community Visioning
Project (“Vision 2000”) attracted more than 1,700 participants, and produced 40
community goals—which resulted in the implementation of 223 projects and programs,
the creation of 1,300 permanent jobs, and a total financial investment of 793 million
dollars.
What this writer saw in the documentary was a way of revitalizing the sense of working
together with our neighbors for the greater good, so that there would be an electrifying
feeling about what going to happen next—a collective revitalization of the belief that
many good things would be happening in the community, and that many people who
lived in the same community would have a part in it.
5/13/2022 22

23. Neighborhood Learning Centers
Creating the knowledge base and skill sets necessary to resolve the challenges of our times will
require encouraging as much formal and informal meetings as possible between neighbors—and
people living in the same local community.
As mentioned in the subsection on Recalibrating Our “Moral Compasses” (ROMC) Surveys,
internationally focused ROMC Surveys, the resulting free Ebooks, and locally based ROMC
Surveys can provide evidence of the need for local Community Visioning Initiatives (or other
collaborative problem solving/stakeholder engagement processes)—and many supporting
Neighborhood Learning Centers—and provide key starting points for topics to cover in workshops
at Neighborhood Learning Centers.
Neighborhood Learning Centers can be:
1) a multi-purpose support center for implementing Community Visioning Initiatives
2) a neighborhood meeting place and workshop center
3) a critical part of a low cost lifelong learning education system (which would include
questionnaires and surveys, Community Visioning Initiatives, Neighborhood Learning Centers and
neighborhood learning networks, local newspapers primarily focused on community service, etc)
4) a critical part of making best use of the knowledge and abilities each of us has to exponentially
accelerate solution-oriented activity at this time of unprecedented challenges
What we need more of now are collaborative problem solving processes which help citizens
understand that the investments of time, energy, and money (the “votes”) each of us make in our
everyday circumstances become the larger economy. And that wisely directed, such “votes” can
result in countless ways of earning a living which contribute to—rather than impair—the
peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability efforts necessary to reach
positive tipping points on many critical challenges at the same time. Citizens from every variety
of circumstances can learn how to wisely cast such “votes”—through workshops and meetings at
Neighborhood Learning Centers during a Community Visioning Initiative, and through other local
learning experiences.
Creating many Neighborhood Learning Centers can provide places—in local
neighborhoods—for discussion, information sharing, mutual support and
encouragement, and fellowship and friendship, so that the exchanging of
information and resources can make significant contributions to the process of
building “close-knit” communities of people… communities with a healthy
appreciation for each others strengths, communities with a well-developed
capacity to resolve even the most difficult challenges— and communities which
demonstrate a high level of compassion for their fellow human beings.
“… the Rosenwald Fund. Using state-of-the-art architectural plans
designed by professors at Tuskegee Institute, the fund spent more
than four million dollars to build 4,977 schools, 217 teacher homes,
and 163 shop buildings in 883 counties in 15 states, from Maryland to
Texas. The Rosenwald Fund was based on a system of matching
grants, requiring white school boards to commit to maintenance and
black communities to aid in construction.”
[From blog entry “This Week in Halls Hill History: The Origin of Langston School” (August
9, 2020) at the Halls Hill Community website (at https://hallshill.com/tag/rosenwald-
fund/ ) (From “About my Hall’s Hill Family” webpage (at https://hallshill.com/about-my-
halls-hill-family/ )]
5/13/2022 23

24. A rough estimate by this writer for a time-intensive (year or more) Community Visioning
Initiative (introduced by Preliminary Surveys, and supported by many Neighborhood
Learning Centers) is $10 million (10 million in U.S. dollars). 1000 Community Visioning
Initiatives would cost approximately $10 billion.
$10 billion is only .0028% of the $355 trillion in personal wealth held by the richest
12.2 percent.
[Pyramid Graph (below) from “Global Wealth Report 2021” (p. 17) (by Credit Suisse) (at
https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/global-wealth-report.html )
Calculations: Referring to the Pyramid Graph below, we can calculate that the richest 12.2% of
global adults (639 million) hold USD 355 trillion in wealth--while the remaining 87.8% of global
adults (4.594 billion) hold USD 62.8 trillion.]
Cost of 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives
b) $10 billion is only .005% of $1,981 billion in world military expenditures in 2020.
(Stockholm, 26 April 2021) “Total global military expenditure rose to $1981 billion last
year, an increase of 2.6 per cent in real terms from 2019, according to new data published
today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The five biggest
spenders in 2020, which together accounted for 62 per cent of global military expenditure,
were the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom.”
[From article “World military spending rises to almost $2 trillion in 2020” at the website of the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) (at
https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2021/world-military-spending-rises-almost-2-trillion-
2020 )
c) $10 billion is .014% of $700 billion in worldwide advertising spending in 2021.
“Three prominent global ad agencies (Magna, Zenith and GroupM) recently issued their
final forecast for the ad marketplace in 2021 and a look at 2022. Forecast were provided
for both the U.S. and global markets. In 2021 the ad marketplace was driven by digital
media, specifically social, search and video which was more robust than anticipated
midyear. While there are several factors to consider, strong ad spending growth is
expected to continue in 2022. The U.S. ad market is forecast to exceed $300 billion and the
global ad market over $700 billion.”
[from article “Agencies Agree; 2021 Was A Record Year For Ad Spending, With More Growth
Expected In 2022” by Brad Adgate (Contributor, Independent Media Consultant) (December 8,
2021) at the Forbes website (at https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/12/08/agencies-
agree-2021-was-a-record-year-for-ad-spending-with-more-growth-expected-in-
2022/?sh=23fb090c7bc6 ) (paragraph 1)]
5/13/2022 24

25. 1) Question: Evaluating Community Resilience
There are many unprecedented challenges ahead, all of which will directly or indirectly impact
Climate Breakdown mitigation and achieving Sustainable BioDiversity, and all of which are
either Emergencies in themselves, or require urgent attention during the unprecedented
cultural transformation which we must make in the coming decades.
Examples:
Cultures of Violence, Greed, Corruption, Cynicism, and Overindulgence
Global Inequities and Cycles of Malnutrition, Disease, and Death
Toxic Air Pollution
Health Care and Education Accessibility
Accelerating Migration and Displacement
Water Deficits
Widespread Sanitation Issues
Protection Against Floods at Chemical Sites
Radioactive Waste Disposal
Ocean Health Management
Reducing Cyber Threats
Increasing Media Literacy
Marginalization of Wisdom and Compassion
Please choose three statements (one from each of the three categories opposite)--
which most closely represent your view of your community’s plans to resolve each of the 13
challenges listed above. Then write the letter associated with the category, and the letter
associated with your choices, next to the challenges listed above.
The kind of truthful public discussion we really need to be having
[Ex: Cultures of Violence, Greed, Corruption, Cynicism, and Overindulgence Rc,
Pd, Cc]
Resources (R) (category)
a) I believe we have more than enough resources to resolve this challenge.
b) I believe we have sufficient resources to resolve this challenge.
c) I am not sure if we have enough resources to resolve this challenge.
d) I am sure we do not have enough resources to resolve this challenge.
Plans (P) (category)
a) I believe we have a relevant, practical, and doable action plan for resolving this
challenge.
b) I believe we are taking the steps necessary to develop a relevant, practical, and
doable action plans for resolving this challenge.
c) I am not sure if we know how to resolve this challenge.
d) I do not believe we know how to resolve this challenge.
Confidence (C) (category)
a) I am confident we can resolve this challenge
b) I believe we are moving in the right direction to resolve this challenge.
c) I am not sure if we will be able to resolve this challenge.
d) I have no confidence in our ability to resolve this challenge.
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26. 2) Question: Arriving at Working Definitions of “Right Livelihood”
Please consider what ways of earning a living you would identify as “right
livelihood”. Now imagine a local community resource guide relating to
employment, apprenticeships, training, and volunteer opportunities associated
with ‘right livelihood.’ And further: imagine a committee commissioned to
produce such a ‘right livelihood’ resource guide…. And the individuals who
make up the committee commissioned to produce such a resource guide….
a) What background (qualifications, experiences, etc.) would you like such
individuals to have?
b) What local institutions would you consider most appropriate to commission
such a resource guide, and oversee its production?”
3) The concept of "Community Queries" introduced here is simply an
expansion of the use of "Queries" by the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers)…. (with 13 specific examples)
The concept of "Community Queries" introduced here is simply an
expansion of the use of "Queries" by the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers), so that the concept applies to the geographical area sense— and
the most inclusive sense— of the word "community." Here are 13 specific
examples of "Queries“ (see opposite) from sets of queries used by three
different Quaker meetings.
a) "Does our Meeting prepare all its members and children for worship, and for a life
consistent with the principles of the Religious Society of Friends?"
b) "Do you seek employment consistent with your beliefs, and in service to society?"
c) "Do you weigh your day-to-day activities for their effect on peace-keeping, conflict
resolution and the elimination of violence?"
d) "Are you concerned for responsible use of natural resources and their nurture for future
generations?"
e) "Do you try to avoid wasteful consumption and pollution?"
f) "Are you working towards the removal of social injustices? Have you attempted to examine
their causes objectively, and are you ready to abandon old prejudices and think again?"
g) "Do any of your interests, important though they may appear to you, unduly absorb your
time and energy to the hindrance of your growth in grace and of your service to God?"
h) "Are you loyal to the truth?"
i) "When pressure is brought to bear upon you to lower your standards, are you prepared to
resist it?"
j) "Do all adults and children in our Meeting receive our loving care and encouragement to
share in the life of our Meeting, and to live as Friends?"
k) "When a members conduct or manner of living gives cause for concern, how does the
Meeting respond?"
l) "Are you sufficiently conversant with our Christian Discipline to be able, when difficult
questions arise, to consider them with an informed mind as well as a loving and tender spirit?"
m) "Do you live in accordance with your spiritual convictions?"
[From "The IPCR Newsletter/Journal Spring 2005" in the “About the IPCR Initiative” section of The
Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative (at
https://nebula.wsimg.com/ee2a6e257c340130e1c8eca9588e4031?AccessKeyId=238D35F9602A8D5BA6
F3&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 ) (p. 4) (which includes source references for all the above queries on p.
10)]
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27. 8) Question: Which are More Sustainable--Small Towns, Large Cities, both?
Please consider the following statement--
“It is possible to create, support, and sustain (small towns/large cities) which can minimize
resource requirements, achieve Zero Carbon Resilience, maintain Sustainable BioDiversity,
maintain a high level of compassion for fellow human beings--and which represent what a
significant majority of community residents surveyed would describe as a high quality of
life.”
Please choose the phrase below which best represents your response to the above
statement with “small towns” in it--and the above statement with “large cities” in it.
( ) I believe it, and there is much evidence to support it
( ) I believe it, and there is sufficient evidence to support it
( ) I would like to believe it, but there isn’t much evidence to support it
( ) It is difficult to believe, with the way things are going now
( ) I don’t believe it, there is no evidence to support it
( ) have different view--or different way understanding our present circumstances
Your different view, or different way of understanding our present circumstances:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
“How to find suitable teachers is, therefore, the really important question with which
we are confronted. And I doubt whether they can be found--at least in sufficient
numbers. They will have to be made; and how this is to be done is the real problem
that faces those interested in moral education at the present time.” (p. 227-228)
[Excerpts from a paper “Systematic Moral Teaching” by Prof. J. S. Mackenzie, which was presented at
the First International Moral Education Congress, University of London, 1908 (Note: a complete
collection of the papers presented at this Moral Education Congress is in the public domain, and at
Google Books--at
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Papers_on_Moral_Education/xoBCAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&
bsq=First%20International%20Moral%20Education%20Congress,%20University%20of%20London,%201
908 ; and this particular paper by Prof. J. S. Mackenzie can be found by a key phrase search.]
“‘The school building program was one of the largest programs administered by
the Rosenwald Fund. Using state-of-the-art architectural plans designed by
professors at Tuskegee Institute, the fund spent more than four million dollars to
build 4,977 schools, 217 teacher homes, and 163 shop buildings in 883 counties
in 15 states, from Maryland to Texas. The Rosenwald Fund was based on a
system of matching grants, requiring white school boards to commit to
maintenance and black communities to aid in construction’.”
[The two paragraphs above are from blog entry “This Week in Halls Hill History: The Origin of
Langston School” (August 9, 2020) at the Halls Hill Community website (at
https://hallshill.com/tag/rosenwald-fund/ ) (paragraph 4)]
5/13/2022 27

28. The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative (www.cpcsi.org ) provides research and
analysis for critical challenge alerts, and research and support for collaborative problem solving, community
education, and citizen peacebuilding initiatives which seek to maximize citizen participation, and accelerate
solution-oriented activity.
The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative is an effort to apply the accumulated
wisdom now accessible to us towards the general goal of integrating spiritual wisdom into the everyday
circumstances of community life--and towards the specific goal of generating practical responses to the
challenges of our times.
Stefan Pasti is the Founder and Resource Coordinator
for The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative
www.cpcsi.org
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